size and identification of racing marks

Its a good point.  At Bough Beech we try and remove all unused marks and anyway our racing marks are quite different than anything else on the water.  In addition the marks we are using all have a flag pole attached which carries a green or red flag - thus indicating the way to round the mark.  The Outer Distance Mark on the start line is a different size and colour again and has an orange marker flag.  In this way we rarely have a problem - but its easy for us since we are virtually the only water users.

At Wilsonian SC (on the Medway) we use navigation bouys and since we are racing along a long stretch of relatively narrow water we use sometimes as many as 20 marks.  Its not ideal but there is little we can do about it and this does favour the locals.  For Opens we try and keep it simple but this can compromise the quality of the course.  For the locals the navigation is part of the challenge and I often hear people say I wouldn't want to race at this or that sea club because its boring doing triangles and sausages.  For the high performance skiff boats its quite a challenge because we often end up with legs which are close reaches or are extremely tight with the kite up. 

I'm against using safety boats to lead the way - their heart isn't in it and they often make a mistake.  Although on a big championship sized courses (beat 2km) then it is good if they standby the windward mark until the lead boats have got around it.

Yes I've been lost. I've also been the only boat in a 30-strong fleet who went the right way; everyone else followed the leader to a mark laid for a different event entirely. Protesting the entire fleet was entertaining.

But to return to your point, if the committee boat is showing bearing to the windward mark, it makes sense to check it with a compass to 100% confirm which mark you are going to. I learned that one the hard way.